time flies

I came home this afternoon after a matinee of La Bohème, the final performance of San Francisco Opera fall season. Putting my violin away, I looked at a poster that’s been hanging in my study from the very first time I played there, which, as it turns out, was 25 years ago. In fact it was what was on the stand for my first rehearsal.

That was a spectacular season: Lulu was a huge hit. Coming into work, I remember people a block away from the opera house trying to buy tickets, knowing the usual scalpers in front of the building had none. After Lulu I got to play Mefistofele (in the in/famous Robert Carsen production), Lohengrin (conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras), and Die Frau Ohne Schatten (conduct by Christoph von Dohnányi) among other things. There was the Loma Prieta earthquake which happened on October 17 and forced the company to decamp to Masonic Auditorium for a few performances. And then the loss of Sir John Pritchard came at the end of the season.

There haven’t been many times with such a concentration of great music and conductors in my experience so I thought it was good to make note.